In the team literature there is much discussion about free-riding as a main obstacle for teams to achieve quality performance. Given its importance to team success, however, empirical study of the free-rider problem has lagged behind the conceptual work. So far, little research has been conducted in field settings to measure the scale of free-riding and investigate how the problem may deteriorate the productivity of collective actions. This study intends to examine the free-rider problem in project teams. 44 student software development teams participated in the study. An instrument was developed to capture the most salient free-riding behavior from team members; a research model with team morale and team size as the antecedents, and team cognition and team performance as the consequences of free-riding, was tested. Implications to both research and team practices are discussed.


WATKINS, TAMEKA L. B.A. UNIVERSITY OF COLORADOBOULDER, 2000 THE EFFECTS OF PROTEIN PRENYLATION INHIBITORS ON MORPHOGENESIS IN THE DIMORPHIC FUNGUS MUCOR RACEMOSUS Advisor: David A. Logan, Ph.D. Thesis dated December 2004 Mucor racemosus is a saprophytic, dimorphic fungus belonging to the order Mucorales. The fungus grows as branching, filamentous mycelia in an aerobic environment, but under anaerobic conditions, in the presence of a fermentable hexose, the fungus exhibits its budding yeast form. Though Mucor species are usually not pathogens, several species, including M. racemosus, are among the various Zygomycetes identified as causing a type of opportunistic fungal disease in humans called mucormycosis. The objective of this study was to obtain information regarding the effects of protein prenylation inhibitors on morphogenesis in M. racemosus. The prenylation inhibitors used were carvone (250 uJvl), perillaldehyde (250 \M) and farnesyl-protein transferase inhibitor type m (FPT III) (200 ^iM). We hypothesized that exposure of M. racemosus to the protein prenylation inhibitors carvone, perillaldehyde, and FPT III would result in inhibition of spore-to-hyphal and yeast-to-hyphal morphogenesis. In the spore-to-hyphal studies results showed the inhibitors delayed morphogenesis by 1 hour in Mucor cells. There was a significant difference in sporeto-hyphal morphogenesis between control cells and cells treated with the inhibitors in the earlier hours of incubation (5-7 h). However, as a possible result of cell metabolism, by the 9th h all cells developed 100 % hyphae. Following redosing with the inhibitors at the 5th h (start ofgerm tube emergence) of incubation, germ tube emergence was delayed by an additional hour and hyphal formation was significantly suppressed in the later hours of incubation (8-10 h). These results suggested the cells were metabolizing the drugs. During the yeast-to-hyphal studies, as the percentage of cells with buds decreased, percent germ tube and hyphal formation increased. These results showed successful yeast-to-hyphal morphogenesis. Following 24 hours of growth, cells treated with the inhibitors still contained budding yeast cells compared to the control, which had no presence ofbudding yeast cells and 100 % hyphal development. Results showed the inhibitors significantly delayed yeast-to-hyphal morphogenesis. Spore-to-hyphal and yeast-to-hyphal morphogenesis was delayed by the prenylation inhibitors as shown by lower percentages ofgerm tubes, weights, and protein concentration levels in cells treated with the inhibitors compared to the control samples. The experiments conducted with these protein prenylation inhibitors provided evidence that with repeated doses, conversion ofM. racemosus to its pathogenic hyphal form can effectively be delayed and possibly inhibited. Further studies with these drugs and other compounds should provide more information on the potential of prenylation inhibitors to be used in the treatment of mucormycosis and other pathogenic fungal diseases. THE EFFECTS OF PROTEIN PRENYLATION INHIBITORS ON MORPHOGENESIS IN THE DIMORPHIC FUNGUS MUCOR RACEMOSUS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE BY TAMEKA L. WATKINS DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES ATLANTA, GEORGIA DECEMBER 2004 , /


Introduction: Natural killer/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type is a distinct entity, rarely reported in sub-Saharan Africans. Although the skin is the second most common involved site after the nasal cavity, very few cases of primary cutaneous extranodal natural killer/T-cell lymphoma (PC-ENK/T-NT) have been reported so far. Their clinical features reported in the literature are variable.
Case report: We report a case of a 48-year-old man with a PC-ENK/T-NT presenting as a multinodular and ulcerated tumor of 9 cm in diameter on his left leg, mimicking a large B-cell lymphoma, leg type at the onset and only developed nasal and lymph node involvement at a later stage.
Conclusion: PC-ENK/T-NT in our case is remarkable by its presentation simulating a B-cell lymphoma of leg type.


We have evaluated the use of a disposable device, the Patient Controlled Epidural Infusor, for patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) using pethidine, for pain relief in the first 24 hours after elective Caesarean section. Patients using the Patient Controlled Epidural Infusor (n = 20) were compared with a control group (n = 20) who received PCEA using a standard electronic device. Efficacy, as assessed by visual analogue scores, was comparable to that achieved in the control group. Patient and nursing satisfaction was high and similar to that in the control group. There was a low incidence of side-effects with both devices. Patients using the disposable device used less pethidine than patients using the electronic device (median (interquartile range) 181 (100-275) mg versus 238 (213-375) mg; p = 0.035). Use of this disposable device is an acceptable alternative to more expensive and bulkier electronic devices for PCEA after Caesarean section.


It is well conceived that the intention of man in trying to solve human kind ailments, is being a long standing biological rule to give rational solutions at any rate. The response to the current problem studied, approaches a different view of the peripheral and local deteriorating phenomena and offers--in a non classical way--how to maintain the well-being of a population of otherwise healthy women, in trying to defer the degenerative cellular process. Interesting, as the proximity of the XXI century arrives, the technology and the biomedical level of progress seems to be for a way from the ideal, particularly when dealing with a process initiated years before the menopause. This critical period of hormonal imbalance makes also a definite++ e social change for women; such a combination of facts, prompt us to be aware that in society, a women is no longer biologically reproductive but certainly, productive, as an economical drive digure. Needless to say that we must be protective to her and to realize that the number of them will continue to an increase in the years to come. The following two comments intended to associate various levels of the current knowledge of one of the Public Health problems in women.


Global climate changes are threatening the survival of our species. Landscape architecture adaptive to climate change has become a hotspot. Many low-carbon ideas are involved in the process of formation of some regional landscape. This paper discussed the low-carbon ideas in some regional landscape from scientific landscape pattern, technology of using clean energy, usage of local materials, ecological design for construction and so on. These ideas are valuable to modern landscape architecture. In order to create new landscapes accordant with the spirit of the times, more attention should been paid to how to integrate ancient low-carbon ideas, new technology, local characteristics and function into modern landscape architecture.


The paper deals with the connection between accidents and occupational diseases due to the weak application of ergonomics in business practice. Applying the principles of ergonomics in the day-to-day running of companies in primary prevention makes it possible to prevent the occurrence and exacerbation of difficulties in the musculoskeletal system of the employees concerned, which can ultimately avert the development of occupational diseases and increase occupational accidents. Ergonomics primarily addresses work environment factors that are cumulatively pathogenic, so their impact on employees will only become apparent after a specific exposure time. In contrast, occupational safety and health focus primarily on thermal and traumatogenic factors of the work environment, which can cause an employee an occupational injury of varying severity or result in death. To comprehensively cover the effects of all work environment factors on employees, the work environment and the work activity itself must be assessed from both occupational health and safety and ergonomics. The observance of ergonomic principles in the solution of workplaces makes it possible to prevent many different costs related to the occurrence of accidents at work and occupational diseases. In most cases, however, these are cost-effective solutions whose effect is not immediately visible, so they are more likely to be reached by companies that apply sustainability principles or have a positive experience of the past. The article focuses on the need to implement ergonomic principles in business practice, such as preventing occupational accidents and developing occupational diseases.


The genus Paharia Distant, 1905 is reviewed based on the description of a new species, Paharia oorschoti  sp. nov., and redescription of the allied Paharia putoni (Distant, 1892), both from Turkey. The relationships among Paharia , Subpsaltria Chen, 1943 and Tibicina Kolenati, 1857 of the tribe Tibicinini Distant, 1905 are discussed. The morphology of the exuviae of Pa. oorschoti  sp. nov. and S. yangi Chen, 1943 is described and compared. Tibicina insidiosa Boulard, 1977 is transferred to Paharia to become Paharia insidiosa comb. nov. A key to all species of Paharia is provided.


It is state-of-the-art to use the Unified Modelling Language (UML) to describe software system models. In order to support cooperative team work a version management system which supports UML models is absolutely necessary. The essential part of such systems is the ability to calculate differences and present them to the developer. This paper presents an approach for computing differences between UML models encoded as XMI files. In contrast to our previous work, we present a generic approach, with which we are able to cover a broad range of UML diagram types. It also does not require persistent identifiers of diagram elements. Our prototype implementation shows, that our difference algorithm used leads to good runtimes in the case of small documents and acceptable runtimes in the case of large documents. Overall, it has a very low error rate, i.e. the quality of the differences is almost optimal.


Obesity is a prevalent metabolic disease that increases the risk of other diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers. A meta-analysis of 11 randomized sham-controlled trials indicates that acupuncture had adjuvant benefits in improving simple obesity, and previous studies have reported that acupoint combinations were more useful than single-acupoint therapy. The Apriori algorithm, a data mining-based analysis that finds potential correlations in datasets, is broadly applied in medicine and business. This study, based on the Apriori algorithm-based association rule analysis, found the association rules of acupoints among 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs). There were 23 acupoints extracted from 11 RCTs. We used Python to calculate the association between acupoints and disease. We found the top 10 frequency acupoints were Extra12, TF4, LI4, LI11, ST25, ST36, ST44, CO4, CO18, and CO1. We investigated the 1118 association rule and found that {LI4, ST36} ≥ {ST44}, {LI4, ST44} ≥ {ST36}, and {ST36, ST44} ≥ {LI4} were the most associated rules in the data. Acupoints, including LI4, ST36, and ST44, are the core acupoint combinations in the treatment of simple obesity.


The turbulent motion within molecular clouds is a key factor controlling star formation. Turbulence supports molecular cloud cores from evolving to gravitational collapse and hence sets a lower bound on the size of molecular cloud cores in which star formation can occur. On the other hand, without a continuous external energy source maintaining the turbulence, such as in molecular clouds, the turbulence decays with an energy dissipation time comparable to the dynamic timescale of clouds, which could change the size limits obtained from Jean's criterion by assuming constant turbulence intensities. Here we adopt scaling relations of physical variables in decaying turbulence to analyze its specific effects on the formation of stars. We find that the decay of turbulence provides an additional approach for Jeans' criterion to be achieved, after which gravitational infall governs the motion of the cloud core. This epoch of turbulence decay is defined as cloud core relaxation. The existence of cloud core relaxation provides a more complete understanding of the effect of the competition between turbulence and gravity on the dynamics of molecular cloud cores and star formation.


BACKGROUND
Decisions to refer patients to other physicians for care or consultation are an important component of the provision of appropriate care for cancer patients. However, little is known about the referral process between specialists.

OBJECTIVES
To examine the referral patterns of specialists to specialists and to understand why only some breast cancer patients receive a consultation with a medical oncologist.

RESEARCH DESIGN
This study was conducted in a large metropolitan region from 1993 to 1995 using a 2-staged population-based sampling strategy. One hundred seven physicians discussed 244 patient cases and their own knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward treatment and referral.

RESULTS
Of the 244 patients, 87.7% were referred to an oncologist, and 10.2% were actually prescribed tamoxifen by their surgeons before they saw the oncologist. Surgeons who were less involved in making decisions about the type of adjuvant therapy the patients were to receive and who preferred the use of chemotherapy were significantly more likely to refer patients to oncologists. Patients who were older, unemployed, node negative, and had a better prognosis or preferred not to see an oncologist were significantly less likely to be referred. These 7 factors explained a total of 55% of the variation in surgeons' decisions to refer patients to an oncologist.

CONCLUSIONS
Extramedical factors, such as surgeon and patient preferences and communication factors, play a strong role in the referral process. In this sample, most patients were referred to an oncologist. However, older, unemployed patients and patients whose medical features indicated a better long-term prognosis were most likely to be among the nonreferred group.


A two-dimensional solution of natural convection heat transfer in a trapezoidal enclosure using baffles attached to hot wall has been analyzed numerically. The vertical and inclined walls of the enclosure are isothermal while the bottom and top horizontal walls are insulated and the temperature of the vertical wall is higher than the temperature of the inclined wall. Governing equations are solved using the finite difference technique. The study included three cases: one baffle at position 0.5, two baffles at positions 0.2 and 0.5, and three baffles at positions 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6, in addition to Rayleigh number 10 3 , 10 4 and 10 5 and baffle length of 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4 used as governing parameters that are effective on heat transfer and fluid flow. Results for the mean Nusselt number, and contour maps of the streamlines and isotherms are presented. It is found that Nusselt number is an increasing with increasing in Rayleigh number while decreasing with increasing in the baffle length and number of baffles. Key words : Natural convection, Trapezoidal enclosure , Heat transfer , baffles


In a cross-modal (auditory-visual) fragment priming study in French, we tested the hypothesis that gender information given by a gender-marked article (e.g. unmasculine or unefeminine) is used early in the recognition of the following word to discard gender-incongruent competitors. In four experiments, we compared lexical decision performances on targets primed by phonological information only (e.g. /kRa/-CRAPAUD /kRapo/; /to/-TOAD) or by phonological plus gender information given by a gender-marked article (e.g. unmasculine /kra/-CRAPAUD; a /to/-TOAD). In all experiments, we found a phonological priming effect that was not modulated by the presence of gender context, whether gender-marked articles were congruent (Experiments 1, 2, and 3) or incongruent (Experiment 4) with the target gender. Moreover, phonological facilitation was not modulated by the presence of gender context, whether gender-marked articles allowed exclusion of less frequent competitors (Experiment 1) or more frequent ones (Experiments 2 and 3). We concluded that gender information extracted from a preceding gender-marked determiner is not used early in the process of spoken word recognition and that it may be used in a later selection process.


This article discusses how classical studies can use the concept of heterotopia to analyze both physical and imagined spaces in ancient civilizations. Michel Foucault has adopted the notion of heterotopia to refer to spaces and places that exist in reality, but are strikingly different from the surrounding space and reflect, negate and invert it. First, Foucault's criteria for such other spaces are presented, and the concept of heterotopia is critically discussed before applications in ancient studies are outlined. Finally it is shown, as an example, how Foucault's approach can help to understand the ideology and practice of ascetic monasticism in the Greek East in Late Antiquity.


How do low-income households think about retirement? Do they think about retirement? If so, when do they think they will retire, and what is it they plan to live on? In this paper, we present evidence on these questions based on 51 qualitative interviews with low-income families in the Detroit area. We find that the great majority of low-income households think about retirement, although this does not necessarily mean they are able to plan and/or save actively for retirement. Most respondents plan to retire as soon as they become eligible for Social Security or, in a few cases, private pensions.


Rabbit models of intraocular proliferation were made by intravitreal injection of cultured homologous conjunctival fibroblasts. 0.025 mg of homoharringtonine, a Chinese herbal drug that potently inhibited rabbit fibroblast proliferation in vitro, or distilled water, as control, was injected into the vitreous immediately after the cell transplantation. On days 1, 3, 7, 10 after the injection, the homoharringtonine eyes were given same doses of the agent subconjunctivally. After 21 days, these eyes developed significantly less intravitreal proliferation than the control eyes, and no retinal detachment occurred while 54.5% of the control eyes did. Light microscopy and TEM revealed no toxic effect on tissues in the medicated eyes. Hence, homoharringtonine may be of clinical value in the treatment of post-traumatic proliferation in the eye.


This study examined the relationship between coaching leadership styles and swimmers' satisfaction, turnover intention, and commitment in NCAA swimming. Dividing leadership into five dimensions (training and instruction, autocratic behavior, democratic behavior, social support, and positive feedback); it was predicted that swimmer's satisfaction and commitment would be positively related with all dimensions except for autocratic behavior; and turnover intention would show the opposite correlation. It was also expected that swimmers of different genders and from different NCAA divisions would perceive different leadership styles. The questionnaire included a scaled down version of Chelladurai's "Perceived Leadership Scale for Sports" as well as questions that measured satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intention. It was sent to coaches from 63 NCAA Division I, II, and III institutions who were asked to forward it to their swimmers. A total of 237 swimmers participated in this survey. Correlation and ANOVA analyses were used to determine relationships between the variables. Much of the earlier findings and all of the hypotheses of this study were supported by the results of this study. INDEX WORDS: Leadership, Coaching, Commitment, Motivation, Satisfaction, Swimming. PERCEIVED LEADERSHIP IN SWIMMING: LEADERSHIP STYLES OF NCAA SWIM COACHES AND ITS RELATIONSHIPS WITH ATHLETE SATISFACTION, TURNOVER INTENTION, AND COMMITMENT


Charles Darwin and other naturalists of his time traversed the globe to survey the diversity of plants, animals, and insects and their distributions around the world. They combined these surveys with their contemporary understanding about the history of Earth to develop an evolutionary model for the origins of species through natural selection. One hundred fifty years later, microbial naturalists are uncovering a whole new world of diversity that will lead to a sea change in our understanding of evolution. Initial surveys of microbial diversity suggested that microbes did not fit this conventional model of evolution. Microbial naturalists were unable to identify mechanisms that would disconnect microbial populations from one another. Our initial analyses suggest that primary differences come not from natural selection by abiotic environmental variables between locations, but from interactions between microbes in each location, specifically between Sulfolobus and its viruses and other microbial parasites. The study of microbial evolution lags behind that of macroorganisms, and it seems that there are relatively few microbiologists choosing microbial naturalism. It is clear that the new generation of microbial naturalists who set out to explore the distribution of natural diversity now wields not only the strong lens of genomics but also the power of molecular biology and genetics, which will enable them to discover the fundamental laws of evolution that apply to all of life on Earth.


The extreme Arctic climate makes the region a challenging place to travel and live. The existing urban structure of Longyearbyen has been suffering from uncontrollable hazard weather conditions which poses it's citizens and buildings in risks. Together with integrated analysis of anthropogenic activities and the arctic contextm, a proposal to relocate the risk communities to the airport offers opportunity for an arctic urban regeneration. The methodology of juxtaposing the configurations, typology of terminals as well as urban structure from 20 selected airports within it's specific circumstances, manifesting airports are continuously updated, terminal structures were adapted to meet future needs. A hypothesis of an expansion plan is stimulated, not only by the increasing of aviation activities: it involves the landslide layout as much as airside facilities. The use of solar energy as main source, the modification and mitigation of topography, a highly interchange and concentrated space is created. The Arctic airport city, it's not a city, it's not an airport, either.


The Supreme Court's federalization of punitive damages review continues to engender controversy. The Court continues to grant certiorari (see, e.g., Philip Morris USA v. Williams, 05-1256) to clarify its Due Process analysis of punitive damage awards, which centers on the three guideposts: (i) reprehensibility of defendant's conduct, (ii) ratio between compensatory and punitive damage award, and (iii) disparity between punitive award and sanctions for comparable conduct. This article, written for the Remedies Forum, focuses on the effect of the Court's tightening of the ratio prong on federal civil rights cases. Regarding the ratio prong, the Court stated in State Farm that in practice, few awards exceeding a single-digit ratio between punitive and compensatory damages . . . will satisfy due process and that it is obvious that [s]ingle-digit multipliers are more likely to comport with due process. This article addresses whether federal appellate courts feel constrained by State Farm's stated preference for single-digit ratios, or instead, jettison the ratio strictures in favor of other prongs. Constitutional torts and civil rights cases typically involve harms that are nonpecuniary in nature. Per se damages are no longer permissible in these cases. The value of the harm is difficult to commodify. Juries often award nominal or low compensatory awards as a result. The punitive award must be proportional to the compensatory award, yet still serve the goals of deterrence and punishment. Civil rights violations demonstrate the problematic nature of strict adherence to the Court's ratio prong. An appendix to the article is a chart that catalogues federal appellate cases that have grappled with State Farm's ratio principle. The chart summarizes the civil rights claim at issue, the factfinder ratio, remittitur, the appellate ratio, and the appellate court's rationale. Thirteen civil rights cases addressed circumstances in which the ratio already comported with a single-digit framework. Five civil rights cases reduced a multiple-digit award to a single-digit. Notwithstanding the Supreme Court jurisprudence favoring single digits, other federal courts in four cases upheld double - (i.e., 10-99), triple - (i.e., 100-999), or even quadruple - (i.e., 1,000-9,999) digit ratios. These courts strain to demonstrate compliance with Gore/State Farm's guideposts. Yet, if one is cognizant of the policies behind punitive damages and the history and goals of civil rights damages, it becomes evident why some courts find it difficult to be faithful to a strict reading of the ratio component of the Supreme Court's guideposts. Accordingly, the premise of this Article is that civil rights cases are particularly well-suited to demonstrate the irrationality of the ratio prong.


In this brief we use the CASEL reviews of evidence -based programs to answer the question, "What do teachers and other adults actually need to do in the classroom and school to help students achieve the goals laid out in social and emotional learning (SEL) standards?" Specifically, we identify and describe four approaches that have been successfully used to promote social and emotional development in students. One approach uses free-standing lessons that provide step-by-step instructions to teach students' social and emotional competencies. The second approach uses general teaching practices to create classroom and schoolwide conditions that facilitate and support social and emotional development in students. A third approach integrates skill instruction or practices that support SEL within the context of an academic curriculum. The fourth approach provides school leaders with guidance on how to facilitate SEL as a schoolwide initiative. The identification of these four approaches and types of strategies that support each one should help school leaders and teachers develop a comprehensive plan for developing students ' social and emotional competencies.


For the development about Manufacturing Execution System of mould making, the difficulty in manufacturing execution management is pointed out by combining mould making process with current management regulations of mould making enterprises. Goal of the system is analyzed and its main function is designed. System architecture is established based on WEB platform and B/S mode, The physical data model is designed by using PowerDesigner software and implementation methods of some critical functions for manufacturing execution system are developed based on JSP. Through practical enterprise application, it is proved that the system immensely enhance the manufacturing execution management level for mould making enterprises.


Dispositional optimism is a personality trait associated with individuals who believe, either rightly or wrongly, that in general good things tend to happen to them more often than bad things. Using a novel longitudinal data set that tracks the job search performance of MBA students, we show that dispositional optimists experience significantly better job search outcomes than pessimists with similar skills. During the job search process, they spend less effort searching and are offered jobs more quickly. They are choosier and are more likely to be promoted than others. Although we find optimists are more charismatic and are perceived by others to be more likely to succeed, these factors alone do not explain away the findings. Most of the effect of optimism on economic outcomes stems from the part that is not readily observed by one's peers.


The methanol fraction of the root extract of Tragia involucrata was investigated for psychopharmacological activity in rodents. It produced an alteration of behavioural pattern and a reduction in spontaneous motility. A significant potentiation of pentobarbitone‐induced sleep, a decrease of body temperature, suppression of the aggressive behaviour pattern and of the conditioned avoidance response (CAR) were observed with the fraction. These suggest that the methanol fraction of the T. involucrata root extract possesses significant central nervous system depressant action. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Background/introduction STIs are not routinely tested for in hospital which means they are often missed when they are an important differential diagnosis. Aim(s)/objectives To present a case of rectal gonorrhoea (GC) in a patient with well-controlled Crohn's disease (CD) who presented to gastroenterology before diagnosis of GC in GUM. Methods Case report and literature review. Case report A 37 year old man presented to gastroenterology with diarrhoea, abdominal pain, proctalgia and tenesmus. He was known to have CD which had been in remission with treatment. X-ray showed faecal impaction and he commenced laxatives. Bowels regularised but remained painful. He was discharged with topical diltiazem, lidocaine gel and Metronidazole. At follow up he reported continuing proctalgia and small amounts of rectal bleeding. Exploration under anaesthesia revealed a peri-anal fissure and a sinus which was de-roofed and treated with local anaesthetic. MRI showed an inflamed anal gland. Colonoscopy, biopsies and stool cultures were normal. He then attended sexual health as he recently found out his regular male partner had been unfaithful. Proctoscopy was painful and revealed discharge and inflamed anal mucosa. On microscopy > 10 neutrophils per high powered field were seen with a mixture of gram positive and negative organisms. Proctitis was treated with Doxycycline. Rectal GC tests were positive and this was treated. At test of cure symptoms had resolved and have not recurred since. Discussion/conclusion Literature search reveals publications from recent years about STIs being initially misdiagnosed in hospital. This case further highlights the importance of asking routinely about partners in patients with bowel symptoms.


Extensional rift basin systems have been a focus of study for hydrocarbon exploration and have provided significant economic reserves in recent decades, which has led to advances in our understanding of their tectono-sedimentary evolution. However, with the increasing maturity of such settings, focus is shifting from pre-rift structures to the underexplored syn- and late-rift plays. This change in focus brings with it a significant increase in complexity when trying to develop an integrated understanding of the sedimentological, sequence stratigraphic and structural conditions that control the distribution of syn-rift reservoirs. Here we present a subsurface example from offshore Norway of a small, confined, syn-tectonic basin sourced from a local basement high. 3D seismic data, sedimentary facies analysis and stratigraphic correlations based on well and core data from six key wells constrain the local and regional tectonic controls. The PL586 licence partners drilled several wells between 2014 and 2015 targeting syn-rift Upper Jurassic stratigraphy on the southern Halten Terrace. The wells penetrated a complete syn-rift stratigraphic sequence, which provided an excellent subsurface record of the inherent complexities encountered in small, confined (3 by 5 km) syn-rift basins. Seismic data reveals that the Late Jurassic hanging-wall basin architecture and the footwall hinterland of the Frøya High were controlled by activity on the basin-bounding Vingleia Fault Complex. Facies analysis from well and core data reflects a complete syn-rift succession. The early-rift succession comprises mainly mud and siltstone with minor fine-grained sandstones interpreted to be deposited by sediment gravity flows in isolated mini-basins. The peak-rift deposits comprise coarse-grained sediment gravity flows that were sourced locally from the uplifting footwall and deposited as coarse-grained submarine fan systems in the immediate hanging wall. Significant footwall uplift during the peak-rift phase resulted in fault scarp instability and the emplacement of several large landslide complexes into the basin. The late-rift phase is dominated by a mud-rich sequence with minor coarse-grained apron fans shedding sediment off the basin bounding fault and shoreface deposits flanking the hanging-wall dip-slope and subtle intra-basinal highs. This subsurface study from the southern Halten Terrace is significant in the number of wells that have specifically targeted syn-rift stratigraphy and the level of detail at which it captures the stratigraphic variability of these deposits within a small, confined basin system. Integration of seismic geomorphology and well data with robust provenance, dating and stratigraphic correlation has enabled the development of a tectono-stratigraphic model specific to the scale and local tectonic setting. The model reveals that structural evolution ultimately controlled the development of sediment supply routes, their age and distribution, and allows several conclusions to be drawn:
The stratigraphy of small, confined syn-rift basins is broadly comparable with more typically documented larger syn-rift settings, although lateral facies changes occur more rapidly.The cannibalistic nature of syn-rift systems, where a large volume of pre- and syn-rift sediments are uplifted and eroded then rapidly re-deposited makes determining the relative age of laterally variable depositional settings difficult.In order to adequately constrain the timing and depositional extent of syn-rift stratigraphy, it is essential to understand the structural evolution of the system and integrate this information with other disciplines and datasets. This integrated understanding will ultimately improve predictions of reservoir presence and quality.


Out of 70 fungal isolates recovered from soil, wall paints (Latex), and pieces of plastic debris from different habitats in Jordan and plastic shields of street light posts on campus, 35 isolates showed varied potential to degrade polyester-polyurethane (PS-PUR). Six of these isolates (Fusarium solani, Alternaria solani, Spicaria spp., Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus terreus, and Aspergillus flavus) were selected on the basis of their growth rates on basal salt media amended with PS-PUR as the sole source of carbon. Isolates were further evaluated utilizing 3 different methods: 1) direct plating, 2) clear zone in a 2-layered agar media, and 3) liquid shaking culture. These isolates caused significant weight loss in the PS-PUR blocks in the shaken cultures, reaching up to 100% in case of the isolate Fusarium solani. The petri dish test method revealed a maximum degradation activity achieved by the isolate Aspergillus flavus, which caused 94% loss in weight of PS-PUR pieces. However, only 4 isolates (Fusarium solani, Spicaria spp., Alternaria solani, and Aspergillus flavus) yielded positive results of biodegradation, indicated by clear zones created due to PS-PUR hydrolysis in 2-layered agar culture plate media. Out of the 6 fungal isolates reported here, 2 novel organisms have not been previously reported, Alternaria solani and Spicaria spp. Overall, these findings helped identify predominant as well as novel fungi in Jordanian habitats that play a key role in PS-PUR degradation.


An electrically heated foil glued on top of an acrylic wall is employed to measure convective heat transfer on turbine vane platforms. The use of a heater foil requires specific filtering techniques to obtain the searched quantities – heat transfer coefficients and the heat release from the foil. In this paper, limitations of the transient measurement technique are summarized and discussed. Moreover, a method is presented to assess the conditioning of a transient test for un-cooled configurations. This method can be extended to transient measurements involving advanced film cooling schemes.


The thesis of this paper is that the criticisms and calls for regulation of the proxy advisory industry are not really directed at the proxy advisors themselves, but at their clients, the holders of public company stock. Many corporate executives, directors and their representatives want to make it more difficult for shareholders to vote against management recommendations. The assumption underlying this view — sometimes stated, sometimes not — is that executives and directors know what's best for their companies and, in many instances, shareholders do not. Almost by definition, this means that recommendations that don't agree with management are viewed as inaccurate, uninformed, and value destroying. Rather than allow shareholders to support non-value maximizing shareholder proposals and say-on-pay recommendations unfettered, corporate interests have sought to make it more difficult for institutional investors to vote proxies independently of management by urging measures that would hamstring their proxy service providers. Before endorsing regulatory intervention, it's worth first asking if there are other potential market solutions to address the existing deficiencies. If uninformed shareholder voting is the problem, then both corporate managers and the SEC should be open to alternative solutions that would address the tension between the sometimes competing interests of shareholders making informed voting decisions and controlling the costs of procuring and managing the information necessary to make those decisions.


Nonverbal vocal interaction (NVVI) is an input modality by means of which users control the computer by producing sounds other than speech. Previous research in this field has focused mainly on studying isolated instances of NVVI (such as mouse cursor control in computer games) and their performance. This paper presents a study with 36 elderly users in which basic NVVI vocal gestures (commands) were ranked by their perceived fatigue, satisfaction, and efficiency. The results of this study inspired a set of NVVI gesture design guidelines that are also presented in this paper.


The method described in the article is used to identify radio transmitting devices by means of the singular value decomposition. The method uses the construction of matrix components phase portraits. Usually the main source of information for identifying individual signs of operating radio facilities should be considered samples from the analyzed signals. Samples of sufficiently large length, obtained with a small time interval of sampling, are one of the most informative objects with respect to the properties of the signals under research. Thus, the equipment required for obtaining time series can be either specialized means, or digital oscilloscopes with the necessary operating frequency range can be used for this purpose. Identification of radiating radio facilities is possible. It is possible on the basis of a set of fixed radio emission parameters, individual values of which are inherent to each radio-emitting device, and can act as "features" of its individual portrait. Different individual features of the transmitting equipment should be considered.


Methamphetamine (METH)-induced neurotoxicity is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and enhanced oxidative stress. The aims of the present study conducted in the mouse brain repetitively treated with METH were to (1) examine the redox status using the redox-sensitive imaging probe 3-methoxycarbonyl-2,2,5,5-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (MCP) and (2) non-invasively visualize the brain redox status with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) imaging. The rate of reduction of MCP was measured from a series of temporal EPR images of mouse heads, and this rate was used to construct a two-dimensional map of rate constants called a "redox map." The obtained redox map clearly illustrated the change in redox balance in the METH-treated mouse brain that is a known result of oxidative damage. Biochemical assays also showed that the level of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance, an index of lipid peroxidation, was increased in mouse brains by METH. The enhanced reduction in MCP observed in mouse brains was remarkably suppressed by treatment with the dopamine synthase inhibitor, α-methyl-p-tyrosine, suggesting that enhancement of the reduction reaction of MCP resulted from enzymatic reduction in the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Furthermore, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of METH-treated mice using a blood–brain barrier (BBB)-impermeable paramagnetic contrast agent revealed BBB dysfunction after treatment with METH for 7 days. MRI also indicated that the impaired BBB recovered after withdrawal of METH. EPR imaging and MRI are useful tools not only for following changes in the redox status and BBB dysfunction in mouse brains repeatedly administered METH, but also for tracing the drug effect after withdrawal of METH.


Many populations have a negative impact on their habitat, or upon other species in the environment, if their numbers become too large. For this reason they are often managed using some form of control. The objective is to keep numbers at a sustainable level, while ensuring survival of the population.+Here we present models that allow population management programs to be assessed. Two common control regimes will be considered: reduction and suppression. Under the suppression regime the previous population is maintained close to a particular threshold through near continuous control, while under the reduction regime, control begins once the previous population reaches a certain threshold and continues until it falls below a lower pre-defined level. We discuss how to best choose the control parameters, and we provide tools that allow population managers to select reduction levels and control rates. Additional tools will be provided to assess the effect of different control regimes, in terms of population persistence and cost.In particular we consider the effects of each regime on the probability of extinction and the expected time to extinction, and compare the control methods in terms of the expected total cost of each regime over the life of the population. The usefulness of our results will be illustrated with reference to the control of a koala population inhabiting Kangaroo Island, Australia.


An intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) enables effortless conversations in call routing through spoken utterance classification (SUC) which is a special form of spoken language understanding (SLU). Building a SUC system requires a large amount of supervised in-domain data that is not always available. In this paper, we introduce an unsupervised spoken utterance classification approach (USUC) that does not require any in-domain data except for the intent labels and a few para-phrases per intent. USUC is consisting of a KNN classifier (K=1) and a complex embedding model trained on a large amount of unsupervised customer service corpus. Among all embedding models, we demonstrate that Elmo works best for USUC. However, an Elmo model is too slow to be used at run-time for call routing. To resolve this issue, first, we compute the uni- and bi-gram embedding vectors offline and we build a lookup table of n-grams and their corresponding embedding vector. Then we use this table to compute sentence embedding vectors at run-time, along with back-off techniques for unseen n-grams. Experiments show that USUC outperforms the traditional utterance classification methods by reducing the classification error rate from 32.9% to 27.0% without requiring supervised data. Moreover, our lookup and back-off technique increases the processing speed from 16 utterances per second to 118 utterances per second.


A method is presented for detecting the cellular location of specific DNA fractions. The technique involves the hybridization of a radioactive test DNA in solution to the stationary DNA of a cytological preparation. Sites of DNA binding are then detected by autoradiography. Experiments with DNA of the toad Xenopus are described.


This paper, originally presented at a Special Workshop on Information Privacy at iConference 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas on Feb. 12, 2013, presents the findings of a qualitative case study examining why one public library installed video surveillance systems and then later reversed course and completely removed the previously installed systems. We found that the library initially installed the system as a response to specific incidents of crime without central administrative oversight, and that the removal was prompted by deteriorating relationships with local police departments over the library's position that the video footage was exempt from public disclosure under the state's library records privacy law. The library system subsequently removed all of their cameras in 2011, claiming the cameras were not in sync with library commitments to intellectual freedom and patron privacy, despite the fact that library staff expressed strong interest in retaining the cameras and were concerned about staff safety and crime prevention. We also found evidence of surveillance creep.


The problem of marginal density estimation for a multivariate density function f(x) can be generally stated as a problem of density function estimation for a random vector λ(x) of dimension lower than that of x. In this article, we propose a technique, the so-called continuous Contour Monte Carlo (CCMC) algorithm, for solving this problem. CCMC can be viewed as a continuous version of the contour Monte Carlo (CMC) algorithm recently proposed in the literature. CCMC abandons the use of sample space partitioning and incorporates the techniques of kernel density estimation into its simulations. CCMC is more general than other marginal density estimation algorithms. First, it works for any density functions, even for those having a rugged or unbalanced energy landscape. Second, it works for any transformation λ(x) regardless of the availability of the analytical form of the inverse transformation. In this article, CCMC is applied to estimate the unknown normalizing constant function for a spatial autologistic model, and the estimate is then used in a Bayesian analysis for the spatial autologistic model in place of the true normalizing constant function. Numerical results on the U.S. cancer mortality data indicate that the Bayesian method can produce much more accurate estimates than the MPLE and MCMLE methods for the parameters of the spatial autologistic model.


Development of the next generations of cancer therapy modalities is currently a crucial requirement of oncology. Advances in nanotechnology are bringing us closer to the development of dual and multifunctional nanoparticles that are challenging the traditional distinction between diagnostic and treatment agents. The chase of innovative, multifunctional, more efficient, and safer treatments is a major challenge in preclinical nanoparticle-mediated thermotherapeutic research for breast cancer. Here, we report that iron oxide nanoparticles have the dual capacity to act as both magnetic and drug delivery agents. The aim of this work was to investigate the in vitro effect of the loading of doxorubicin (DOX) on negatively charged polycarboxylic iron-oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and Rhodamine B functionalized SPIONs on breast carcinoma cell lines. For proper analysis and understanding of cell behavior after administration of DOX-SPIONs compared with free DOX, a complex set of in vitro tests, including production of MTT assay, cell cycle determination, and cellular uptake, were utilized. In summary, we have developed a magnetic nanoparticle-based drug delivery system that sequentially delivers the cytotoxic drug doxorubicin to breast cancer cells (MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231). The drug-coated nanoparticles, DOX-NPs, were assembled stepwise, with doxorubicin adsorbed to bare iron oxide nanoparticles first, by electrostatic reaction and allowed for the complexation of doxorubicin. In contrast, they were internalized to a much greater extent in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells and were cytotoxic due to the synergistic action of the two drugs and the effects of hyperthermia. The drug-coated particles were able to inhibit growth and proliferation of breast cancer cells in vitro, indicating that the system has potential to act as an antimetastatic chemothermotherapeutic agent.


Undergraduate students (16 men and 16 women) from a Christian university read a 1-page description of a pastor named either "Carl Anderson" or "Carol Anderson." Students rated each named pastor on four items summed for a measure of vocational success. We predicted, based on role congruity, that students would rate a female-named pastor lower than a male-named pastor on the measure, but women's ratings of pastoral vocational success were significantly higher. Men's ratings did not differ significantly for the male- and female-named pastors. Power was low so further research is appropriate.


This thesis is dedicated to the analysis of non-linear pricing in oligopoly. Non-linear pricing is a fairly predominant practice in most real markets, mostly characterized by some amount of competition. The sophistication of pricing practices has increased in the latest decades due to the technological advances that have allowed companies to gather more and more data on consumers preferences.
 The first essay of the thesis highlights the main characteristics of oligopolistic non-linear pricing. Non-linear pricing is a special case of price discrimination. The theory of price discrimination has to be modified in presence of oligopoly: in particular, a crucial role is played by the competitive externality that implies that product differentiation is closely related to the possibility of discriminating. The essay reviews the theory of competitive non-linear pricing by starting from its foundations, mechanism design under common agency. The different approaches to model non-linear pricing are then reviewed. In particular, the difference between price and quantity competition is highlighted. Finally, the close link between non-linear pricing and the recent developments in the theory of vertical differentiation is explored.
 The second essay shows how the effects of non-linear pricing are determined by the relationship between the demand and the technological structure of the market. The chapter focuses on a model in which firms supply a homogeneous product in two different sizes. Information about consumers' reservation prices is incomplete and the production technology is characterized by size economies. The model provides insights on the size of the products that one finds in the market.
Four equilibrium regions are identified depending on the relative intensity of size economies with respect to consumers' evaluation of the good. Regions for which the product is supplied in a single unit or in several different sizes or in only a very large one. Both the private and social desirability of non-linear pricing varies across different equilibrium regions.
 The third essay considers the broadband internet market. Non discriminatory issues seem the core of the recent debate on the opportunity or not of regulating the internet. One of the main questions posed is whether the telecom companies, owning the networks constituting the internet, should be allowed to offer quality-contingent contracts to content providers. The aim of this essay is to analyze the issue through a stylized two-sided market model of the web that highlights the effects of such a discrimination over quality, prices and participation to the internet of providers and final users. An overall welfare comparison is proposed, concluding that the final effects of regulation crucially depend on both the technology and preferences of agents.


To describe Latino beliefs about AIDS (SIDA), Latino adults were sampled at two U.S. sites (Connecticut and Texas) and two international sites (Mexico and Guatemala). A 125-item questionnaire covered risk factors, symptoms, treatments, and sequellae of AIDS. The cultural consensus model was used to determine the cultural beliefs for each sample. Responses from 161 people indicated that a single set of beliefs was present at each site and that beliefs were shared across sites. Comparison of answers between samples indicated high agreement (p < .0007). The proportion of shared beliefs, however, decreased significantly between samples: .68 in Connecticut, .60 in Texas, .51 in Mexico, and .41 in Guatemala (p < .05). The proportion of positive answers similarly decreased from Connecticut to Guatemala (p < .001). Beliefs were stronger and more detailed in the higher prevalence areas. Furthermore, Latino beliefs tended to converge on biomedical beliefs about the disease.


Cumulative cultural evolution is what 'makes us odd'; our capacity to learn facts and techniques from others, and to refine them over generations, plays a major role in making human minds and lives radically different from those of other animals. In this article, I discuss cognitive processes that are known collectively as 'cultural learning' because they enable cumulative cultural evolution. These cognitive processes include reading, social learning, imitation, teaching, social motivation and theory of mind. Taking the first of these three types of cultural learning as examples, I ask whether and to what extent these cognitive processes have been adapted genetically or culturally to enable cumulative cultural evolution. I find that recent empirical work in comparative psychology, developmental psychology and cognitive neuroscience provides surprisingly little evidence of genetic adaptation, and ample evidence of cultural adaptation. This raises the possibility that it is not only 'grist' but also 'mills' that are culturally inherited; through social interaction in the course of development, we not only acquire facts about the world and how to deal with it (grist), we also build the cognitive processes that make 'fact inheritance' possible (mills).


The microwave dielectric properties of (300-X) nm MgTiO3/(X) nm CaTiO3 thin films have been investigated with correlation between the interface and stress induced by dielectric layers with heattreatment. As the thickness (X) of CaTiO3 film increased, the dielectric constant increased and the temperature coefficient of the dielectric constant changed from the positive to the negative values by the dielectric mixing rule. The dielectric loss of (300-X) nm MgTiO3/(X) nm CaTiO3 thin films increased with an increase of the thickness (X) of CaTiO3 film because of higher thermal stress induced by the higher thermal expansion coefficient of CaTiO3 than that of MgTiO3.


Two complete data sets of the dependence of dielectric permittivity on temperature and frequency in the range of 10-3 to 109 Hz are reported for K1-xLixTaO3, x=0.025 and x=0.033, with two impurity-induced relaxation branches observed in detail. It is shown that in the x=0.033 samples, relaxation in the low-frequency branch crosses over from random-barrier to hierarchical behaviour as the temperature is lowered. For the first time the authors fit the expressions describing each type of relaxation to both depolarization current and dielectric permittivity data, allowing a crossover temperature to be determined. In addition, a detailed study of the high-frequency branch gives a new insight into its quite particular behavior. It is also shown that within experimental error, the dielectric properties of the sample do not depend on the method of growth.


The aim of the study was measuring noise intensity in the selected points of traffic routes in the city of Lublin. Investigations were carried out at 11 points located in the centre of the city and at escape roads. Noise value levels showed variable intensity, the highest being observed in the morning and afternoon hours. The highest mean level of noise intensity was recorded at the crossing of Solidarności Avenue and Sikorskiego Street, and the lowest in Narutowicza Street.


We have developed a tactile sensor for robotic applications that is sensitive to pressure and, unlike most other tactile sensors, also responds to shear components of the vector force. We consider this an important advantage for robotic manipulation. In our design a magnetoresistive detector senses variation in the magnetic field of a miniature magnetic joystick. This joystick is mechanically mounted by attaching it to a metal foil, which provides elasticity without hysteresis. The detector chip is fabricated using IC technology, and an array of joystick mechanisms can potentially be made by batch processing. We have designed and partially tested a 2 × 2 array prototype, demonstrating the viability of this approach.


The only existing glacial inventory from the French Alps, conducted by Robert Vivian and published within the context of the World Glacier Inventory, dates back to the late 60s/early 70s. Glacial withdrawal over the previous decades largely justifies an update of the status of glacial coverage in the French Alps. This work is part of the activities conducted within the RC 512 (France) of the GLIMS program. A diachronic delineation of glacial contour has been conducted using different sources: 1) 1/25.000 topographical maps of the French Geographical National Institute: IGN (~1970, with varying dates according to the massifs and the updates of the maps); 2) 1985-86, Landsat 5 TM images (30 m resolution); 3) 2003, Landsat 5 TM and Landsat 7 ETM+ images (30 and 15 m resolution); and 4) 2006-2009, aerial photographs of the IGN (50 cm resolution). For the topographical maps and the aerial photographs, glacial contour has been manually delineated. For the Landsat images, an automatic delineation has been achieved using the common NDSI method applied to the 1985-86 images. Then, all glaciers have been individually checked to adjust the delineation of the contour line, specifically for debris-covered and shadowed areas, using a 542 spectral band combination. Resulting glacial contour for 1985-86 has been finally overlaid to the 2003 images, and glacial contour has been manually adjusted for each glacier individually. The overall glacial coverage of the French Alps was about 365 km2 in the late 60s/early 70s (WGI). In 1985-86, in spite of a short advancing period in the late 70s/early 80s, glacial coverage has decreased to a value close to 340 km2. Glacial withdrawal has strongly increased during the last 25 years, and glacial coverage has been reduced to about 270 km2 in the late 2000s, which represents an average loss of 26% over the last 40 years. At the scale of the different French Alps massifs, glacial withdrawal over the last two decades is more important for the southern ones (i.e. Ecrins and Belledonne massifs). In the Belledonne Massif, in relation with the lowest elevation of this mountain range (< 3.000 m a.s.l.), glaciers have almost completly disapeared. In the Ecrins Massif (44°50' N), glacial retreat is more than three times stronger than in the Mont Blanc Massif (45°55' N). This difference is likely a consequence of both a meridional effect (warmer and drier) and a lower elevation of the overall Ecrins Massif.


There is growing interest in the design of supramolecular structures that are photocatalytically active. Perylene bisimides can be self-assembled to produce structures for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Herein we explore the role of pH in controlling self-assembly and photocatalysis. It is shown that self-assembly, which occurs as the pH of the system is decreased, is required for hydrogen evolution to occur.


Because of the simplification for scenario choices and few reflections of space-time characters, product designers or police makers can't reference effectively the results of LCA. This paper proposed a new LCA method for design scheme based on multi-scenarios coexistence. First, various life-cycle scenarios of product are summarized and the common attributes are extracted to generate the scenario model. Second, the choice matrix of multi-scenarios is founded based on product statistic. And the probabilities of scenarios calculated from the choice matrix are used to gather together the environmental impacts of multi-scenarios in proportion. Third, the inventory data are collected as per scenario including pollution emissions and character information. The later are used to generate personnel, spatial and temporal factors which reflect the diversity of environmental impacts in different scenarios. Finally, the related issues are discussed including matters needing attention in practical application and what need to research in future.


The structure of solid aggregates was investigated by using three particle analyzers; an electrical sensing zone, laser light diffraction and electron microscopy. Four particulate materials; aluminum trihydrate, aluminum phosphate, fly ash and iron hydroxide were used for the analysis of particle shape, size and floc structure. One of the primary conclusions of this work is that the floc structure could be characterized by the evaluation of the fractal dimension based on the experimental relationship between floc size and floc density through the free-settling test. It revealed that coarser flocs had a looser structure with a low value of fractal dimension.


The thesis studies the various changes in the patterns of land ownership over a span of two hundred years, with special reference to mineral ownership in England and Wales. In order to sensibly appraise past developments and make recommendations for the future it has been necessary to review events which have taken place before and after the period under consideration. In Part One the rights and responsibilities of mineral owners are explained and the use of selected cases illustrate the uniqueness of this aspect of the law of property. The similarities to other ownerships of real property are explained as well as the peculiarities and exceptions arising from ancient and local customs. To counter these restrictions it has been sometimes necessary to take legislative measures which have slowly emerged, but not always to the benefit of the mineral owner or developer. Throughout the latter part of the period many Commissions and Committees have reported on various aspects of mineral ownership, such as working rights, safety, planning and development. These are reviewed and compared with subsequent legislation. The State Control of some mineral resources is analysed against the background of individual rights and interests. Mineral resources are a national asset but cannot be developed in vacuo and the effects of external factors at home and overseas are given consideration. Part Two contains three contrasting case studies which are examined in depth with reference to rights of ownership and support. These critical appraisals include alternative courses of action which might have been pursued.Finally Part Three gives an overall analysis of the sequence of events and concludes by making some recommendations for future developments, which the author considers necessary if indigenous mineral resources are to play a viable part in the national economy.


This environmental assessment for the INELEC Hydro Project for Mexico, which installs and operates a hydroelectric plant, including a substation and transmission lines, describes expected negative impacts during the different stages of project activity and outlines measures to mitigate them. Hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide gases and particulates emitted from transport vehicles and motorized equipment have to meet regulated levels in work sites and access roads. Cover excavated material in transit and reuse to replace removed land. To reduce noise, vehicles will travel at low speeds, equipment will be operated according to specifications, and workers will wear protective gear. Construction waste and household garbage will be collected and recycled. Hazardous waste will be separated, stored, and disposed of according to regulation. Combustibles and fuels will be contained with an impermeable layer in concrete to control leaks or spills. To reduce soil erosion, vehicles will stay on access roads. Wastewater discharged from the plant will be controlled within permissible limits. To minimize the risk to vegetation, agrochemicals will be avoided and areas affected by the plant will be replanted with species native to the area. Site activity will be confined in order to lessen the risk to fauna in the area. Furthermore, in accordance with law, construction activities will be suspended if historical artifacts or archeological remains are found and notify the relevant authorities. There will be periodic monitoring to verify that the levels of air emissions, wastewater, noise and contaminants in the perimeter and the work site comply with project parameters and to confirm mitigation effectiveness. A safety and hygiene program will be developed with procedures that include hazardous waste management.


Source scaling relations have been obtained for earthquakes in eastern North America and other continental interiors, and compared with a relation obtained for earthquakes in western North America. The scaling relation for eastern North American earthquakes was constructed from measurements of seismic moment and source duration obtained by the waveform modeling of seismic body waves. The events used include nine events of m_(bLg) magnitude 4.7 to 5.8 that occurred after 1960, and four earlier events with magnitudes between 5.5 and 6.6. The scaling relation for events in other continental interiors was used for comparative purposes and to provide constraints for large magnitudes. Detailed analysis of the uncertainties in the scaling relations has allowed the resolution of two important issues concerning the source scaling of earthquakes in eastern North America. First, the source characteristics of earthquakes in eastern North America and other continental interiors are consistent with constant stress drop scaling, and are inconsistent with nonconstant scaling models such as that of Nuttli (1983). Second, the stress drops of earthquakes in eastern North America and other continental interiors are not significantly different from those of earthquakes in western North America, and have median values of approximately 100 bars. The source parameters of earthquakes in eastern North America are consistent with a single constant stress drop scaling relation, whereas the source parameters of earthquakes in western North America are much more variable and show significant departures from an average scaling relation in which stress drop decreases slightly with seismic moment.


This dissertation studies the problem of identifying the ideological perspective of people as expressed in their written text. One's perspective is often expressed in his/her stance towards polarizing topics. We are interested in studying how nuanced linguistic cues can be used to identify the perspective of a person in informal genres. Moreover, we are interested in exploring the problem from a multilingual perspective comparing and contrasting linguistics devices used in both English informal genres datasets discussing American ideological issues and Arabic discussion fora posts related to Egyptian politics. %In doing so, we solve several challenges.
 Our first and utmost goal is building computational systems that can successfully identify the perspective from which a given informal text is written while studying what linguistic cues work best for each language and drawing insights into the similarities and differences between the notion of perspective in both studied languages. We build computational systems that can successfully identify the stance of a person in English informal text that deal with different topics that are determined by one's perspective, such as legalization of abortion, feminist movement, gay and gun rights; additionally, we are able to identify a more general notion of perspective–namely the 2012 choice of presidential candidate–as well as build systems for automatically identifying different elements of a person's perspective given an Egyptian discussion forum comment. The systems utilize several lexical and semantic features for both languages. Specifically, for English we explore the use of word sense disambiguation, opinion features, latent and frame semantics as well; as Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count features; in Arabic, however, in addition to using sentiment and latent semantics, we study whether linguistic code-switching (LCS) between the standard and dialectal forms for the language can help as a cue for uncovering the perspective from which a comment was written.
 This leads us to the challenge of devising computational systems that can handle LCS in Arabic. The Arabic language has a diglossic nature where the standard form of the language (MSA) coexists with the regional dialects (DA) corresponding to the native mother tongue of Arabic speakers in different parts of the Arab world. DA is ubiquitously prevalent in written informal genres and in most cases it is code-switched with MSA. The presence of code-switching degrades the performance of almost any MSA-only trained Natural Language Processing tool when applied to DA or to code-switched MSA-DA content. In order to solve this challenge, we build a state-of-the-art system–AIDA–to computationally handle token and sentence-level code-switching.
 On a conceptual level, for handling and processing Egyptian ideological perspectives, we note the lack of a taxonomy for the most common perspectives among Egyptians and the lack of corresponding annotated corpora. In solving this challenge, we develop a taxonomy for the most common community perspectives among Egyptians and use an iterative feedback-loop process to devise guidelines on how to successfully annotate a given online discussion forum post with different elements of a person's perspective. Using the proposed taxonomy and annotation guidelines, we annotate a large set of Egyptian discussion fora posts to identify a comment's perspective as conveyed in the priority expressed by the comment, as well as the stance on major political entities.


Since the late 1980s, scholars have sought to understand what it is that speakers, audience members or conference organisers want from the interpreters with whom they work. The aim of this paper is to provide a critical review of the work that has taken place to understand these expectations, with a view to fostering a greater understanding of both the expectations of clients and how these expectations could be explored in a more nuanced fashion. Unlike Kurz (2001), who chose to provide an author-centred summary, publications are examined in this paper in chronological order, allowing the historical development of this area of research to be clearly seen. This structure also draws attention to the relative reduction in the number of publications on client expectations published in the first decade of the current millennium. This paper gives possible reasons for this reduction in publication frequency, followed by a detailed exploration of how more recent publications in this area differ from those published in earlier periods. These differences, and most notably the move towards dividing expectations into different categories, representing stereotypical and event-specific requirements of interpreters, are presented as offering a valuable starting point for future research.


Impact damage of building structures occurs frequently nowadays, and failure of key components of the structures may lead to the collapse of the whole buildings which could cause serious consequences. Thus, it is necessary to study on the impact resistant performance of the members. The different protective measures against impact loads were examined through the experimental testing in this paper. A tube steel beam with the rectangle cross-section was selected as the tested object. During the experimental testing, the different weight of the drop hammers and the different shapes of the contact surfaces were designed for sake of comparison. The strain history at the middle span of the steel beam under the impact load was measured by a Fiber Bragg Grating sensor. By comparing the strain values, the experimental results show that the composite layer which consists of the rigid and the flexible plate is superior to the single layer which only consists of the rigid plate, and have a better effect for suppression of the dynamic response against the impact loads.


According to a model developed by Cavanagh (1982), counseling may be perceived as a unique relationship by which the counselor helps others learn to relate to themselves and others in growthproducing ways. The effective counselor fosters growth by creating an environment and a relation ship that is significantly different from any pres ently experienced by the client or clients. Underlying principles and goals of individual and group counseling are identified and discussed. One goal of counseling is to help individuals understand that most of their difficulties emanate from within themselves and not from external cir cumstances. The basic purposes of a therapeutic group are to increase people's knowledge of them selves and others, to assist people in clarifying changes they want to make in their lives, and to help them develop some of the tools necessary to make the changes. Special characteristics of members of the Deaf culture are discussed, with implications for the group counseling process. The identification of ASL as the language of choice has great impor tance for the Deaf community and any effective counselor must accept it as a legitimate language distinct from English. The counselor must resist any attempt to pathologize deafness and needs to recognize it as an identifying characteristic of a distinct American social group. The utilization of interpreters with counselors not proficient in ASL is considered. Because the presence of a third party in the counseling process entails distancing in the counselor/client relation ship, it is preferable to have a counselor skilled in ASL. Because of a shortage of such professionals, the use of an interpreter may be the only viable


The arrangement of transcriptional units in the loops of lampbrush chromosomes from oocyte nuclei of urodele amphibia and from primary nuclei of the green alga Acetabularia have been studied in the electron microscope using spread preparations. Loops with different patterns of arrangement of matrix units (i.e. to a first approximation, transcriptional units) can be distinguished: (i) loops consisting of one active transcriptional unit; (ii) loops containing one active transcriptional unit plus additional fibril-free, i.e. apparently untranscribed, intercepts that may include 'spacer' regions; (iii) loops containing two or more transcriptional units arranged in identical or changing polarities, with or without interspersed apparent spacer regions. Morphological details of the transcriptional complexes are described. The observations are not compatible with the concept that one loop reflects one and only one transcriptional unit but, rather, lead to a classification of loop types according to the arrangement of their transcriptional units. We propose that the lampbrush chromosome loop can represent a unit for the coordinate transcription of either one gene or a set of several (different) genes.


Bovine neutrophils, eosinophils and macrophages obtained from the mammary gland were cytotoxic to Trypanosoma theileri epimastigotes in vitro in the presence of specific antibody. A detailed ultrastructural study revealed that all types of effector cell phagocytosed T. theileri despite the relatively large size of this parasite (10-130 microns). Phagocytosis proceeded in the classical manner by envelopment of the trypanosome by long pseudopodia. With eosinophils and macrophages structural damage of the parasite was only observed following ingestion. There was evidence of inter-granule fusion in eosinophils prior to the discharge of granule contents into the parasitophorous vacuole; following degradation of the parasite in eosinophils some phagolysosomes opened to the exterior and released what appeared to be trypanosome debris. While eosinophils required less than 30 min to initiate serious damage to the parasite, macrophages required in excess of 2 h to produce similar damage. Conversely, neutrophils caused severe damage within 5 min. An important feature of neutrophil-mediated cytotoxicity was the extensive structural damage to the parasite that was observed before closure of the phagosome. Initially this damage was observed at the end of the trypanosome that was in contact with the neutrophil. This finding suggests that neutrophil-mediated killing of T. theileri is a combination of both extracellular and intracellular mechanisms.


The millions of pages of historical documents that are digitized in libraries are increasingly used in contexts that have more specific requirements for OCR quality than keyword search. How to comprehensively, efficiently and reliably assess the quality of OCR results against the background of mass digitization, when ground truth can only ever be produced for very small numbers? Due to gaps in specifications, results from OCR evaluation tools can return different results, and due to differences in implementation, even commonly used error rates are often not directly comparable. OCR evaluation metrics and sampling methods are also not sufficient where they do not take into account the accuracy of layout analysis, since for advanced use cases like Natural Language Processing or the Digital Humanities, accurate layout analysis and detection of the reading order are crucial. We provide an overview of OCR evaluation metrics and tools, describe two advanced use cases for OCR results, and perform an OCR evaluation experiment with multiple evaluation tools and different metrics for two distinct datasets. We analyze the differences and commonalities in light of the presented use cases and suggest areas for future work.


The combat car used the heavy duty diesel engine must have a large output for maintaining excellent mobility. The compacted graphite iron (CGI) is a material currently under study for the heavy duty diesel engine demanded for high torque, durability, stiffness, fatigue. In this study, three dimensional finite element model of a heavy-duty diesel engine was developed to conduct the stress analysis by using property of CGI. The use of CGI property on the FE model was expected to result in improved distribution of distortions and stresses. The loading conditions of engine are assembly load and operational gas load.


The purpose of this paper is to study the indices of investment activity of subsection DM "manufacturing of transportation vehicles and equipment" enterprises under Russian, foreign and joint ownership (JO). Multivariate statistical analysis of the investment activity was performed at the Russian regional level. Using analysis of variance we identified statistically significant differences of the investment to shipped products ratio and investment structure in fixed capital between Russian, foreign and JO enterprises. Using methods of hierarchical classification, two models of clustering of regions were performed for each form of ownership. The clustering demonstrated that during the years of 2010-2013 the process of intensive creation of enterprises under foreign ownership in certain regions of Russia continued. In regions with enterprises under Russian and JO a low intensity of investment processes was identified. Some region clusters with enterprises under JO have high share of investment into foreign machinery and equipment.


This Article stems from cases handled at the Creating Law Enforcement Accountability & Responsibility (CLEAR) project and from mutually corroborating accounts from a number of CLEAR's partner organizers and attorneys who are active in the Yemeni-American community in New York City and beyond. Collectively these cases and firsthand accounts paint a disturbing portrait of the U.S. Department of State attempting to circumvent the procedures and safeguards that normally must be respected in order to reach a result tantamount to the denaturalization and expatriation of a U.S. citizen.Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, federal and local law enforcement agencies have engaged in aggressive counterterrorism, intelligence gathering, and demographic mapping practices. Authorities have also improperly employed various immigration related mechanisms to exert pressure on community members. The Yemen cases examined in this Article constitute yet another dimension of that larger pattern, simultaneously furthering the marginalization of targeted communities while evading accountability and redress mechanisms.


In the quantum domain, there may not be an objective story to tell. The scientific method relies on facts, established through repeated measurements and agreed upon universally, independently of who observed them. In quantum mechanics the objectivity of observations is not so clear, most markedly exposed in Wigner's eponymous thought experiment where two observers can experience seemingly different realities. The question whether the observers' narratives can be reconciled has only recently been made accessible to empirical investigation, through recent no-go theorems that construct an extended Wigner's friend scenario with four observers. In a state-of-the-art six-photon experiment, we realize this extended Wigner's friend scenario, experimentally violating the associated Bell-type inequality by five standard deviations. If one holds fast to the assumptions of locality and free choice, this result implies that quantum theory should be interpreted in an observer-dependent way.


Despite spending $100 billion a year in retirement tax breaks, the U.S. faces a retirement income security crisis. Though federal tax breaks for 401(k) plans and IRA plans are known to be ineffective and regressive, until now no one has documented the nearly $20 billion states spend on the same ineffective tax breaks. If federal and state tax deferrals for retirement accounts were transformed to refundable tax credits and deposited into Guaranteed Retirement Accounts, every worker would have an average of over $647 per year in retirement savings from the federal government, with an additional $172 going to those who live in states with income taxes.


Approximately 303,000 women and adolescent girls died from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications in 2015.1 That same year, 2.6 million babies were stillborn. Almost all of the maternal deaths (99%) and child deaths (98%) occurred in lowand middle-income countries. These maternal deaths could have been prevented if the pregnant women or adolescent girls had been able to access quality antenatal care (ANC).2 Sixty percent of the stillbirths (1.46 million) occurred during the antepartum period and mainly due to untreated maternal infection, hypertension, and poor fetal growth.3


The study was conducted in Tanga City Council to investigate the factors causing secondary school teachers delay in reporting and not staying long after reporting in
their work stations. The first objective was to find out proportion of reporting and non-reporting teachers for the last four years, 2011-2014. Secondly finding out how
long teachers take to report in work stations. Thirdly to investigate reasons given by teachers for late reporting and not staying long in the work stations after reporting.
Fourthly determination of time for teachers staying before quitting their first station.
A survey research design was used. The researcher used quantitative descriptive statistics. The sample of this study included six public secondary schools, 173
teachers, 6 heads of schools and 6 academic officers, 6 ward education officers, 1 District Secondary Education Officer, 1 Teachers Service Department (TSD) officer
and 1 Teachers Workers Union (CWT). Non probability sampling was used for selecting the sample. Purposive sampling techniques were used to get respondents.
Teachers available on material day responded to questionnaires. Data were obtained through structured interview guides and various district educational records. The study shows that, there was an acute shortage of science subject teachers in the district, also there was a delay of teachers reporting in their work stations. The
leading reason for teachers' late reporting involved lack of interest in geographical location while the reason for teachers not staying long after reporting in their work
stations was poor working conditions which together contribute to teachers' deficit and students' poor performance. It was recommended that government should create conducive and attractive working environment which could attract the qualified candidates to report and stay long in their working stations.


Presently the electric power harvested from vibration energy by existing researches is mostly at the level of μW or mW, which is not available for structural vibration energy harvesting due to the characteristics of lower frequency, bigger mass, and higher Vibration Energy. Therefore, a novel vibration energy harvesting method via pulse liquid flow for structural vibration is put forward. The principle of the method is mainly depicted as follows: the pulse liquid flow motivated by external vibration twirls the hydraulic motor's output shaft; then electric power is produced by the generator rotor due to the shaft torque. In this paper, the Energy Harvesting Model has been built with the help of the fluid mechanics principle and the electromagnetic induction principle. In addition, the formula for output voltage was derived and, meanwhile, the influence of the piston's moving speed amplitude on output voltage has been analyzed as well. Ultimately, we have designed an experimental setup in order to verify the rationality of the analytical method. In our experiments, sinusoidal mechanical excitation was used to test the Energy Harvesting characteristics by the J95-I absorber testing platform. According to the results, the waveform of output line voltage is in a good agreement with the theoretical analysis, which shows effectiveness of this novel method and the worth of which to help solve the problem of dependable power supply for current semi-active vibration control systems.


In this work, we derived a semiclassical approximation for the matrix elements of a quantum propagator in coherent states (CS) basis that avoids complex trajectories, it only involves real ones. For that propose, we used the, symplectically invariant, semiclassical Weyl propagator obtained by performing a stationary phase approximation (SPA) for the path integral in the Weyl representation. After what, for the transformation to CS representation SPA is avoided, instead a quadratic expansion of the complex exponent is used. This procedure also allows to express the semiclassical CS propagator uniquely in terms of the classical evolution of the initial point, without the need of any root search typical of Van Vleck Gutzwiller based propagators. For the case of chaotic Hamiltonian systems, the explicit time dependence of the CS propagator has been obtained. The comparison with a \textquotedbl{}realistic\textquotedbl{} chaotic system that derives from a quadratic Hamiltonian, the cat map, reveals that the expression here derived is exact up to quadratic Hamiltonian systems.


The concentric mosaic offers a solution for quick construction and easy navigation of a virtual environment. However, the huge amount of data presents a heavy burden. We propose the rebinning of slits (ROSS) for the compression of the concentric mosaic. The proposed scheme decorrelates the three-dimensional (3-D) concentric mosaic by rebinning the vertical slits of the 3-D image array into a large two-dimensional (2-D) panorama, and then it compresses the panorama with a JPEG 2000 image coder. Unlike typical video coders that use motion compensation to decorrelate multiple frames, the rebinning converts 3-D spatial correlation into stronger 2-D correlation. Experimental results show that the ROSS outperforms MPEG-2 coding of the concentric mosaic by an average of 1.0 dB.


In this paper, we propose a peak power reduction method for LDPC coded OFDM system, where transmit data sequence is grouped into several clusters based on structure of a low density parity-check matrix and the phase or each cluster is adjusted so as to minimize PAPR of OFDM signal by multiplying weighting factors (WFs). At the receiver, WFs are estimated with sufficient accuracy by exploiting the decoding property of LDPC code. The proposed method can be applied to not only systematic coded signal but also non-systematic one. Computer simulation results show that, when LDPC code with code-rate of R ap 1/2 is used, PAPR of OFDM signal can be reduced by about 2.4 dB without significant degradation in BLER performance as compared to perfect WF estimation in attenuated 12-path Rayleigh fading condition.


ABSTRACT Decysin-1 (ADAMDEC1) is an orphan ADAM-like metalloprotease with unknown biological function and a short domain structure. ADAMDEC1 mRNA has previously been demonstrated primarily in macrophages and mature dendritic cells. Here, we generated monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the mature ADAMDEC1 protein, as well as mAbs specific for the ADAMDEC1 pro-form, enabling further investigations of the metalloprotease. The generated mAbs bind ADAMDEC1 with varying affinity and represent at least six different epitope bins. Binding of mAbs to one epitope bin in the C-terminal disintegrin-like domain efficiently reduces the proteolytic activity of ADAMDEC1. A unique mAb, also recognizing the disintegrin-like domain, stimulates the caseinolytic activity of ADAMDEC1 while having no significant effect on the proteolysis of carboxymethylated transferrin. Using two different mAbs binding the disintegrin-like domain, we developed a robust, quantitative sandwich ELISA and demonstrate secretion of mature ADAMDEC1 protein by primary human macrophages. Surprisingly, we also found ADAMDEC1 present in human plasma with an approximate concentration of 0.5 nM. The presence of ADAMDEC1 both in human plasma and in macrophage cell culture supernatant were biochemically validated using immunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis demonstrating that ADAMDEC1 is secreted in a mature form.


Background Alcohol use, and particularly unhealthy alcohol use, is associated with poor human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related outcomes among persons living with HIV (PLWH). Despite a rapidly growing proportion of PLWH ≥50 years, alcohol use and its associated characteristics are underdescribed in this population. The authors describe alcohol use, severity, and associated characteristics using data from a sample of PLWH ≥50 years who participated in a trial of a telephone-based intervention to improve adherence to antiretroviral therapy (ART). Methods Participants were recruited from acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) service organizations in 9 states and included PLWH ≥50 years who were prescribed ART, reported suboptimal adherence at screening (missing >1.5 days of medication or taking medications 2 hours early or late on >3 days in the 30 days prior to screening), and consented to participate. The AUDIT-C (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test—Consumption) alcohol screen, sociodemographic characteristics, substance use, and mental health comorbidity were assessed at baseline. AUDIT-C scores were categorized into nondrinking, low-level drinking, and mild-moderate unhealthy, and severe unhealthy drinking (0, 1–3, 4–6, and 7–12, respectively). Analyses described and compared characteristics across drinking status (any/none) and across AUDIT-C categories among drinkers. Results Among 447 participants, 57% reported drinking in the past year (35%, 15%, and 7% reported low-level drinking, mild-moderate unhealthy drinking, and severe unhealthy drinking, respectively). Any drinking was most common among men and those who were lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT), married/partnered, had received past-year alcohol treatment, and never used injection drugs (P values all <.05). Differences in race, employment status, past-year alcohol treatment, and positive depression screening (P values all <.05) were observed across AUDIT-C categories, with African American race, less than full-time employment, past-year alcohol treatment, and positive depression screening being most common among those with the most severe unhealthy drinking. Conclusions In this sample of older PLWH with suboptimal ART adherence, a majority reported past-year alcohol use and 22% screened positive for unhealthy alcohol use. Any and unhealthy alcohol use were associated with demographics, depression, and substance use history. Further research is needed regarding alcohol use among older PLWH.


As commercial organisations face up to modern pressures to downsize and outsource they have begun to realise that they have lost knowledge as people leave and take with them what they know. This knowledge is increasingly being recognised as an important resource and organisations are now taking steps to manage it. In addition, as the pressures for globalisation increase, collaboration and co-operation is becoming more distributed and international. Knowledge sharing in a distributed international environment is becoming an essential part of Knowledge Management (KM), although this area does not yet appear to be given much attention. In this paper we make a distinction between hard and soft knowledge within an organisation and argue that much of what is called KM deals with hard knowledge and emphasises capture-codify-store. This is a major weakness of the current approach to KM, equating more with Information Management than Knowledge Management. Soft knowledge is concerned more with the social and cultural aspects of knowledge, its construction and the processes through which it is sustained and shared. This paper addresses this weakness by exploring the sharing of 'soft' knowledge using the concept of communities of practice.


There have been relatively few attempts to eradicate plant pathogens once they have established themselves in New Zealand. However, when concerted attempts are made very often there have been some notable successes (eg citrus canker and common smut of maize). For a successful eradication of a plant pathogen simple practical tools are needed. This research describes a series of experimental applications demonstrating the potential to eradicate seed-borne fungal and bacterial pathogens and nematode incursions. In simulated incursions seed-borne pathogens of celery were eradicated from experimental plots using solarisation and spray chemicals singly or in combination. In a simulated cyst nematode incursion Globodera rostochiensis was successfully controlled using heat treatment rather than chemical pesticides. Variations on these methods could be tailored to contain and eradicate biosecurity incursions.


The authors propose a method of anti-recurrence treatment of polypous rhinosinusitides which implies drop introduction and alternating of antihistamine and antikinin drugs. The results of the treatment show that the number of recurrences reduces, remission duration increases.


Abstract:Comparing the coverage of three recent drug epidemics, the author argues that representations of drug users and producers indicate crises regarding the location of power. Crack in the 1980s and 1990s was seen to exist among users run amok in abandoned inner cities; methamphetamine in the 1990s and 2000s was represented as related to rural producers out of control; and the recent opioid epidemic appears to be ubiquitous and nearly unrepresentable. This article suggests considering drug epidemics from perspectives that eschew representation and that investigate affective and practical realities of emplacement.


We present the first identification of a candidate precursor for an imminent red nova. Our prediction is based on the example of the precursor to the red nova V1309 Sco, which was retrospectively found to be a contact binary with an exponentially decreasing period. We explore the use of this distinctive timing signature to identify precursors, developing the observational and analysis steps needed. We estimate that our Galaxy has roughly 1–10 observable precursors. Specifically, we lay out the observational case for KIC 9832227, which we identified as a tentative candidate two years ago (Molnar et al. 2015, AAS Meeting #225 Abstracts 415.05). Orbital timing over the past two years has followed the tentative exponential fit. As of late 2015, the period time derivative went beyond the range found in other systems ( ), a necessary criterion for a serious candidate. We estimate time of merger is the year 2022.2 ± 0.7. Double absorption line spectra confirm directly the 0.458-day light-curve is the orbital period of a contact binary system and yield a mass ratio . Closer analysis of the Kepler timing data shows evidence of a component C with orbital period days and . An alternative interpretation of the long-term timing trend, that is, a light travel-time delay due to the orbit around a distant component D, is ruled out by the spectroscopic data for any nondegenerate star. Additional measurements are needed to test further the merging hypothesis and to use fully this fortuitous opportunity.